Comments on: Free Speech, Book Burning, and Other Stuff

By: librarian

librarian — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 21:57:44 +0000

This is what a banned book looks like: The Pentagon purchases every copy of Operation Dark Heart (by Anthony Shaffer), destroys it, and makes the publisher distribute an edited version.

This happened last month in the United States.

I want the ALA to champion the first edition of this book and have it available for me to read for Banned Books Week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/us/10books.html?_r=2&ref=us

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:31:12 +0000

“Book burning isn’t the most insidious form of book banning. Actually banning books is the most insidious form. Since that doesn’t happen in America …”

Well, maybe it doesn’t happen where AL lives, but books are banned, or restricted, fairly regularly in the Great White North, especially in our schools.

By: David

David — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:57:20 +0000

AL is right to point out that not all book barbecues are created equal. If someone were kicking down doors, pulling Korans off of shelves, and throwing them on the fire, that would be a pretty clear case of censorship. Buying your own copies to toss on the fire is more a case of symbolic speech – albeit in a rather hateful and wacko form.

I wonder if a teenaged Terry Jones burned his Beatles records when John Lennon said the Fab Four were more popular than Jesus Christ. Too bad John isn’t around to comment now. Imagine no religion…

For my own comparison of “International Burn a Koran Day” (that’s really what he called it) to the burning of Krusty the Clown toys, see http://bit.ly/967cQX

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 21:12:52 +0000

Just hopping on to point out that indeed, there is a Banned Books Read Out in connection with Banned Books Week where people do read excerpts from books that have been banned. Don’t know if they read Huck Finn…

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/calendarofevents/index.cfm#readout

By: R

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:58:02 +0000

Oh ALA. Because how else would we librarians be able to stand up to a nutcase? Sigh.

“From a certain perspective, this is Jones’ wackiest act since his Monty Python days.” –Not the same guy. Same name, true, and they both have people shaking their heads over them, but the similarities end there.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:59:36 +0000

“Why is it okay to use the word ‘cracker’ in reference to a white person, considering the use of racial slurs for pretty much every other racial group is widely condemned?”

Because, librarEwoman, some weak-minded Caucasian people have let themselves be brainwashed into feeling “white guilt”. So they are more than happy to pretend not to hear when some racist twit lets a slur fly their way.

Of course, it’s possible the Annoyed Librarian isn’t also a Racist Librarian, but is just using a racial slur to celebrate her right to free speech.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:41:08 +0000

Also, in AL’s defense, people in Florida proudly refer to themselves as “crackers,” especially if they are related to some of the first white inhabitants of Florida. See (the most trusted of sources): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_cracker

By: SafeLibraries - Are Children Safe in Public Libraries?

SafeLibraries - Are Children Safe in Public Libraries? — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 03:05:57 +0000

AL said, “The hypocrisy of the ALA is appalling as well. …. One can only assume that the sympathies of the ALA are with Islam over intellectual freedom.”

You don’t have to assume. Click the link under my pseudonym to read, “ALA is Duplicitous and Fraudulent, Censors Whomever It Wants, Suppresses Intellectual Freedom, and Joins the Jihad.”

By: Annoyed Librarian

Annoyed Librarian — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:54:36 +0000

“Why is it okay to use the word “cracker” in reference to a white person, considering the use of racial slurs for pretty much every other racial group is widely condemned?”

I think we’re all pretty aware of the reasons, but since the AL is a paragon of political correctness, I shall in future endeavor to be more aware of the racial sensitivities of white people.

By: librarEwoman

librarEwoman — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 21:31:36 +0000

Why is it okay to use the word “cracker” in reference to a white person, considering the use of racial slurs for pretty much every other racial group is widely condemned? I agreed with many of the points you made, AL, but why did you choose to use that particular word? It just seems unecessary and distracting from the point of the article.